As we reported in a story published Thursday, more than 400 people attended Iowa’s first Startup Fair, held Wednesday evening in six venues across the state. Designed to create valuable connections between the startup and broader business communities, the free event included exhibits from more than 100 startups in four regions (Des Moines, Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, Pella and Cedar Falls).
The Startup Fair was held on national Startup Day, which marked the one-year anniversary of the Startup America Partnership, a national effort to encourage and accelerate entrepreneurship across the country. Following the success of the inaugural event, plans are in the works for another, possibly as soon as fall.
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Tej Dhawan, a principal at StartupCity Des Moines — one of the six venues to host the Fair — took time Wednesday to visit with Silicon Prairie News about the inaugural event, which far exceeded its organizers expectations. Dhawan said organizers originally hoped to draw 30-40 startups statewide. On Wednesday, StartupCity alone hosted 32 startups. “What we found,” Dhawan said, “was a lot of the community gelled together and started subscribing to this event.”
For more of Dhawan’s reflections on Wednesday’s events in Iowa and across the country, watch the video above. Fore additional coverage of Silicon Prairie states’ efforts in conjunction with the Startup America Partnership, see our previous coverage:
- “Startup Fair draws 100 exhibitors, more than 400 visitors across Iowa“
- “States ‘starting up’ with Startup Fair and launch events (Video)“
- “Startup Nebraska launches, Kiene shares ‘state of Nebraska’ (Video)“
Video credit: Video by Christopher New.
